Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, v43 n1 p45-60 Feb 2007

Along with the first federal republic in Mexico (1824), the first legislatures of each state included the promotion of public instruction among their functions. Through educators and books and other means of teaching, children and the young were expected to learn to live in a modern, civilized society. At the time, there was a death battle between two cultures: on one side, the emerging local Spanish culture ("ilustrados"), that fought to reproduce and expand the occidental culture; and on other, the culture of the so-called barbarian ("barbaros"), which struggled for survival, harassed by the push of modernity. What was the role of education in this cultural collision? What contradictions were manifested between discourse and educative practices? How were the new generations taught that homogeneity, uniformity and intolerance were requirements to attain economic progress, political peace and social well-being? This article will try to respond to these questions. (Contains 1 table and 26 footnotes.)